It’s week 1 of college football, and the season kicks off with a Thursday night line-up highlighted by an (2) LSU at Mississippi St SEC matchup. Of note, (10) Louisville, (16) Rutgers, and (24) Boise St. also play Thursday, but against opponents not even worth naming on this site, so lets focus on LSU.

The Tigers are facing huge expectations this season, with their highest pre-season ranking in decades, but a vicious SEC schedule stands between them and a BCS championship game birth. Much of that pressure will fall on the shoulders of senior QB Matt Flynn, who threw for all of 133 yards last season, after being a career backup. However, much of that pressure may be relieved by LSU’s defense, which is being touted as maybe the best in the country.

On the other side of the ball, the MSU Bulldogs have failed to put together a winning season since 2000, and have lost seven straight to LSU. In last seasons matchup, the Tigers took a 35-3 halftime lead before winning 48-17. The Bulldogs expectations, as with their season ticket sales, are up this year, but don’t expect an upset of national-championship-minded LSU in week 1.

In non-conference matchups, the best game on the week 1 schedule has got to be (15)Tennessee at (12)Cal. Last year the Vol’s thumped the Bears, but don’t necessarily believe they’ll do it again. This will be a close game, and Cal will find a way to pull out the victory.

Other notable games on Saturday include Washington St. at (7) Wisconsin, Oklahoma St. at (13) Georgia, and Kansas St. at (18)Auburn. Anticipate one of these ranked teams being upset at home in week 1.

It just wouldn’t be right to end the week 1 preview without mentioning the fierce battle that the top-ranked team is heading into Saturday. (1)USC hosts Idaho in its season opener, and don’t sleep on Idaho. Wait, nevermind, I take that back, do sleep on Idaho. Here’s a quick pre-cap of the game. USC scores ad TD within the first minute, be it kickoff return or 80-yard pass. Idaho fumbles on the ensuing drive, USC capitalizes with an under 25-yard TD drive. Repeat for 60 minutes. The biggest questions in my mind are A) will USC be forced to punt even once in this game? And B) Will Idaho find a way to make it on the scoreboard. The answers are NO and NO, unless USC fumbles in their own endzone.

And that wraps up the college football week 1 preview. It’s time to throw the steaks on the grill, tap the keg, and enjoy the season to come.